Peterborough United Women Under 23s suffered a 3-1 defeat away to Derby County Women Development at Moor Farm in the FA Women’s National League Reserves Midlands Division.
The Peterborough United Women Under 23s were beaten in their latest fixture with Taya Smith scoring a second half consolation goal.
Early in the first half, Derby had the ball in the back of the net despite Smith's initial save, however the offside flag was raised. Smith made another good block minutes later to deny The Rams' striker another chance.
The first opportunity for Posh came from Jess Abrantes’ corner, which found Taya Smith, who headed wide of the near post.
Soon after, Abrantes came close to finding Georgie Oliver from a cross towards the back post but the forward couldn't find the target.
Derby broke the deadlock on 36 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box. On 43 minutes, The Rams netted a second from inside the the box to double their lead just before the break.
Posh had another chance early in the second half where Smith took the ball around the keeper, but her shot was blocked by the Derby defender.
On 57 minutes, Abrantes came close from a free-kick on the edge of the box, however her effort towards the bottom corner was saved.
Minutes later, Smith made another good save to keep Posh in the game, reaching high to stop a strike from the edge of the box.
On 75 minutes, Abrantes tested the goalkeeper from distance, forcing her into a save with her fingertips and tip the ball over the crossbar.
In the resulting corner, the ball found SMITH on 77 minutes who made no mistake and slotted past the goalkeeper.
Posh were close to finding an equaliser when the ball came to Oliver at the edge of the box but her strike towards the bottom corner was inches wide of the target.
On 90 minutes, Derby secured all three points after another initial good block Smith, the ball deflected to The Rams' striker who finished into the open net.
Head Coach John Currall said: “I’m thoroughly proud of the girls, I thought it was a very close contest, we were in the game throughout, we started the game really well. I can’t fault the girls today, I thought they were tremendous throughout. It was tough, only having twelve players which is never easy. We knew coming here it was always going to be a difficult game, they’re a good side but we handled ourselves really well.
“We were unlucky to come into half-time 2-0 down, we just said to the girls to keep going, I couldn’t fault them at half-time, I thought they did really well. It doesn’t reflect the result, the third goal in particular, a great save from Grace and then unlucky from the rebound. I thought at 2-1 we were going to get something, nick a point or maybe even the win but it wasn’t meant to be and doesn’t reflect the performance.”
Posh: Smith, Abrantes, Riley, Biggadike, Oliver, Mears, Smith, Moore, Cook, Cooper, Iyawa (sub Richards-Reeves 40min).
Half-Time: Derby County Women Reserves 2-0 Peterborough United Women Under 23s
Full-Time: Derby County Women Reserves 3-1 Peterborough United Women Under 23s
Written by Jake Clipson-Cox
Photo credit: Keira Thurston